To Say Goodbye
by S.P.D. Gold Ranger
Summary: Part three of my 'To Be' trilogy. After a tragic happenstance, Momoko learns what it means to say goodbye...


"I SAID GET OUT OF MY GIRLFRIEND!!!"

Nick's enraged shouts could be heard all over the Majokai as he lashed out at his possessed girlfriend. Just recently, the former queen, Majotourbillon, had awoken from her sleep, her resentment for the humans stronger than ever. So, she had made her move and possessed Momoko in order to kidnap baby Hana from right under the Ojamajos' collective noses.

Needless to say, this didn't sit too well with Nick.

"Why don't you just give it up?" Majotourbillon's voice exclaimed as Momoko swiftly dodged every one of Nick's attacks. "There's no way I'm letting go of your little girlfriend!"

Nick suddenly realized something. At that instant, he stopped going on the offensive, holding his Sweet Poron out in front of him.

"I guess you're right."

This confused Majotourbillon. "What do you mean?"

Nick gave a guilty smirk. "Simple. If you're not going to let go of my girlfriend, there's no reason for me to even be here."

"What the heck is he talkin' about?" Aiko wondered.

Nick raised his Sweet Poron into the air and reversed it.

"You heard me, Majotourbillon."

To everyone's shock, Nick ran himself through with the Sweet Poron. He almost instantly dropped to his knees, already feeling weaker and weaker by the second.

"NICK!!!" Momoko's voice exclaimed from out of nowhere.

"Momoko..." Nick slowly explained. "If I... can't live my life with you... then... there's no life... for me to live..."

With those last words, Nick lost all feeling and fell straight to the ground. Everyone was shocked, Momoko most of all.

"NICK!!!" Momoko cried again, surrounded by a magical aura that forced Majotourbillon out of her body. She ran up to her boyfriend's seemingly lifeless body as Majotourbillon disappeared.

_Nick... I can't believe you did this for me..._

The others could only stare on, too shocked to even move.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

About a month had passed since Nick had done the unthinkable. Momoko had pretty much locked herself in her room, unwilling to even come out. Nick's death had affected her so badly that she wouldn't even talk to her own parents.

In the few times she had cried herself to sleep, her mind had begun to play tricks on her. In her dreams, Nick was alive and well, and Momoko was happy. But, whenever Nick asked Momoko for a favor, he'd always asked her to wake up. At first, she hadn't known what that meant, but then she'd always found herself back in the waking world, even more upset that it had all just been a dream.

After about another month of this, Momoko had gone into denial. The only time she'd ever venture out of her room was to go to school.

And still, she would barely even make her presence known in the classroom, but only the other Ojamajos knew why, as Nick's sacrifice was hitting them hard as well.

After two months of this, Momoko had finally decided that she'd had enough.

She laid on the side of her bed, the tears flowing freely, just like they had been whenever Momoko was awake. Currently, she was staring at one of her favorite pictures of Nick, taken the day they'd confessed their feelings to each other.

"Nick... when I'm awake, I can't stand the fact of losing you. The only time I've ever been happy since you left me... is in my dreams... with you," Momoko stated to nobody in particular.

Her mind made up, Momoko stood up, raising her Sweet Poron. In an instant, she had transformed into her witch apprentice uniform.

"If this is the only way I'll ever be happy again, then I guess I have no other choice but to seal myself in the dream world. One last spell and I can dream with you forever..."

Momoko raised her Sweet Poron into the air, surrounded by a chain of her signature yellow music notes as she chanted what was going to be her final spell.

"_Peruton petton pararira pon..."_

Momoko's eyes were just about blinded with tears now.

"Good-bye, waking world..."

However, before she could finish casting her final spell, she felt a hand grasp her own arm.

"Please don't cry, Momoko. You know I don't like seeing tears stain such a pretty face."

Momoko gasped at the familiar voice. _Could it be?_

Momoko turned around, wiped the tears from her eyes, and there he was. Nick was still smiling, despite everything that happened.

"Nick? ...but... how? How could..." was all Momoko could say.

"I faked my own death," Nick stated simply. "It was the only way."

Momoko just smiled and held her boyfriend close to her. Nick happily returned the heartfelt embrace, unaware that Momoko's hand was twitching.

The next second, Nick had to back off as Momoko slapped him with all of her might.

"Okay, I guess I had that coming," Nick stated to himself, rubbing the spot where he'd been struck.

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Momoko exclaimed. "Where the hell have you been, Nick?!! It's been _two months!!_ Everyone thought you were dead!!"

For once, Nick was at a complete loss for words. He hadn't even begun to imagine how badly the situation had affected his girlfriend.

"Why, Nick?!" Momoko stated, the tears flowing again. "Why did you leave me hanging like that?!!"

Nick still didn't know what to say.

"TELL ME THE TRUTH!!!!"

_Namae mo shiranai_  
_(I don't know his name)  
__Nanni mo shiranai  
__(I don't know anything about him)_

"I didn't want to upset you, Momoko, but I had no choice!! It occurred to me that the only way Majotourbillon was going to leave us alone is if she was sure that I was gone!" Nick explained.

"But you could have at least let me know you were okay!! Why, Nick?! WHY?!!"

_Nano ni doushite konna ni_  
_(I don't know why)  
__Kokoro ga yureru no ka na  
__(My heart shakes every time)_

Nick began thinking back to about a month ago. He'd been secretly watching Momoko, hoping that she'd snap out of her depression. When that didn't seem to work, he'd tried to project his image into her dreams, hoping to relay the fact that he was all right, but it hadn't seemed to work either.

"Nick... I thought you loved me!!" Momoko exclaimed. This surprised Nick.

"Momoko... How can you say something like that?!"

"IT'S TRUE!!! If you really loved me, you'd at least let me know that you were all right!!" Momoko cried, sitting down on the bed and just crying her heart out.

_Houkago no mado kara  
__(Right away after school ends)  
__Ano hito ga mieta  
__(I can see that person clearly)_

Nick quickly sat by his crying girlfriend, hoping to reconcile with her, but she didn't seem to want any of it.

"Momoko. Please hear me out," Nick pleaded.

"What is there to hear out?!" Momoko exclaimed.

_This isn't going too well,_ Nick thought. _But I don't want to lose Momoko. They say true love never comes back again..._

Nick let his arm rest around Momoko as he said his piece.

_Ano hito ga nanika o suru dakede  
__(That person always does something)  
__Doushite konna ureshii no ka na  
__(Why do I have this happy feeling?)_

"Momoko, please listen to me. No matter what happens, I would never hurt you. You have my word. That much I promised you when I confessed my feelings to you. Just trust me when I say that I only laid low so I could make sure you were all right. I just didn't want you to do something stupid in your depression. I made that sacrifice for you, Momoko. You and the others... I'd willingly give my life to see you happy."

_Hito koto kotoba ni shite mitai kedo  
__(Though we see each other, we never really talk)_

That seemed to be it for Momoko, who threw herself into Nick's arms and continued crying.

"It's okay, Momoko. Just let it all out," Nick stated simply, opting to comfort his girlfriend as only he could.

They stood like that for a full ten minutes. Momoko constantly repeated the words _"aishiteru"_ and _"gomenasai"_ over and over again. Nick simply nodded and held his girlfriend close to him.

_Mienai ito ga kiesou de nani mo dekinai  
__(The invisible string that never showed up just vanishes)_

"Oh, Nick... I'm sorry I ever doubted you..." Momoko stated after about fifteen more minutes.

"It's all right, Momoko. To be completely honest, I had no idea this was going to affect you the way it did. It just proves that I'd do anything to see you happy," Nick explained.

Momoko stared into the chocolate-brown eyes of her beloved.

_Kono omoi ni toki no hatemade tsuzuiteyuku to shinjite  
__(I will believe in this feeling until the end of time)_

"Nick? Will you... will you stay with me forever?"

Nick couldn't help but smile.

"Until the very end, Momoko. That's a promise."

Nick held up his pinky, and Momoko linked her own with his, thus sealing the promise.

_Sekai ga owaru sono shunkan mo futari wa norikoeteyuku  
(At the end of the world, that's the moment both of us will ride across)_

It was just then that Nick noticed the song that was playing on Momoko's radio.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Momoko stated. "It actually brought me to tears the first time I heard it. I kept it in the memory because it reminds me so much of you."

Nick laughed softly. "I guess it does."

Nick pulled his girlfriend closer. "You know what? From now on, this is going to be our song."

Momoko nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head in Nick's chest.

_Sou shinjite yuuki o dasou ka na  
__(I believe that my courage will bring me there)_

"I should probably get going, Momoko. My mother's probably worried sick about me," Nick stated, not wanting to leave just yet. He still wanted to stay with his girlfriend a little longer.

"It's okay, Nick," Momoko replied. "You can leave now. I'm just so happy that you're all right..."

Momoko leaned in and kissed Nick deeply. "Oyasumi nasai, Nick. I love you..."

"I love you, too, Momoko."

With that, Momoko released Nick and snuggled up to her pillows, falling asleep almost instantly. Nick kissed her on the forehead before walking out.

As Nick walked by, Minori Asuka looked up towards him. "Is my daughter all right?"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Asuka. Momoko's going to be okay."

"That's good," Minori responded. "I was getting worried about her. Do you know why she started acting like that?"

"Let's just say that it was the start of a miracle," Nick replied, referencing the song he'd heard back in Momoko's room.

As Nick continued his way home, he found himself singing along to the final chorus of the song.

_Kono omoi ni toki no hatemade tsuzuiteyuku to shinjite  
__(I will believe in this feeling until the end of time)  
__Sekai ga owaru sono shunkan mo futari wa norikoeteyuku  
__(At the end of the world, that's the moment both of us will ride across)  
__Sou shinjite yuuki o dasou ka na  
__(I believe that my courage will bring me there)_

Nick couldn't help but smile when the song was finished, a few tears falling from his own eyes.

"I'll always be with you, Momoko. That's a promise."


End file.
